US to join investigation into Ukraine plane crash

The United States National Transportation Safety Board said on January 9 that it will join the probe into Ukrainian Boeing airliner crash in Iran which killed 176 people. The US-made Boeing 737 went down just minutes after takeoff from Tehran and shortly after Iran had fired multiple missiles at Iraqi military bases housing US troops. NTSB said that it had received a 'formal notification' from the Aircraft Accident Investigation Board of the Civil Aviation Organisation of Iran. 

Apart from the recent escalation in tensions between US and Iran, under the rules established by UN aviation organisation, the NTSB is entitled to participate in the investigation because the crash involved a Boeing jet that was designed and was built in US. The victims of the crash reportedly included 63 Canadians,11 Ukrainians and nine members of the crew. According to the official statement released by NTSB, the investigation will be led by AAIB and will reportedly also involve experts from Ukraine, France, and Canada.

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Iran invites Ukraine and Boeing 

An Iranian agency report quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesperson as saying that Iran has 'invited both Ukraine and the Boeing company to participate in the investigations'. The spokesperson, Abbas Mousavi, also said it will also welcome experts from other countries’ whose citizens died in the crash. However, Canadian, British, and US officials said that it is 'highly likely' that Iran shot down the Boeing 737 that crashed near Tehran on January 7. Reportedly, US officials also said that the jetliner might have been 'mistakenly identified' as a threat. 

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Trudeau, whose country lost its 63 citizens in the crash, said, 'we have intelligence from multiple sources including our allies and our own intelligence.' He further added, 'The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile'. The UK PM Boris Johnson and Australian PM Scott Morrison offered similar statements. Morrison also said that it appeared to be a mistake. 

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(With AP inputs)